What Love Is
by Aggressively Hospitable
Summary: My submission for therentyoupay's Evenly Matched 'The Coldest of Nights' gift/art exchange. Modern Adult AU, no bending. Based on 1Corinthians 13:7,8a.


What Love Is

_Love... Bears all things..._

Tahno comes home from work to find Korra out on the balcony, watching the waves crash onto the shore as the sun sets out over the horizon. The wind is blowing softly and tousling her hair around her shoulders, touched with the gold of the fading light. The corners of his lips lift in tenderness at the sight of his wife as he opens the sliding door, then he walks up behind her and kisses her cheek in greeting before settling into a chair beside her.

"How was your day, sweetheart?" Tahno inquires as he reaches over to pull her hand into his before raising it to brush his lips over her knuckles. It was an old fashioned gesture that in their teenage days he had performed with a sly arrogance to annoy her, but was now a well-practiced habit done out of sincerity and affection.

"Fine," Korra answers flatly as she continues to watch the waves with a far off look in her eyes, an expression that had become unsettlingly familiar in recent days.

Tahno pauses before saying anything else for a few moments, taking in the sound of crashing waves and breathing in the salty air as his eyes scan the scenery before returning back to her face. "So where do you want to go for vacation this summer?" he asks softly as he squeezes her hand.

"What's the point?" Korra replies dejectedly, still not turning to look at him.

"Korra, please don't do this. We keep having this discussion. Just because you're in a wheelchair, it doesn't mean..."

"That I can't have a 'normal' life?" she finishes for him, her tone noticeably more resentful than usual.

"Yes. You've been able to do so many things since the accident. You've even competed in marathons for god's sake. Not to mention the bungee jumping, ski diving – twice -, and the amusement parks that let you cut all the lines to the roller coasters. You have traveled the world and done more in the last few years than most people do in a lifetime," Tahno points out. "Why are you in such a bad mood? I thought you said you had a good day."

"I did. It's just..." Korra begins to say, but she can't seem to bring herself to say the words.

"Well then why are you acting like this?" he pushes further, determined not to let her suffer alone, whatever it was.

"Because sometimes I wonder if you're even going to come home," she blurts out suddenly, yanking her hand out of his to cover her face, now twisting with misery.

"What?" Tahno asks, completely dumbfounded as she fights back her emotions.

She takes a few steadying breaths before answering, mouth contorted and chin trembling. "I'm not blind, Tahno. Every time we go out I see the looks we get. Everyone looks at me with pity and every woman looks at you like _'god, why is he with her when he could be with someone better?_', and it hurts because they're right," Korra explains forlornly.

"Stop it," Tahno bit out, feeling anger rise up inside him. "Stop thinking like that. I am with you because I love you. I have told you countless times, and I will tell you again and again until you believe it. I'm not going anywhere and I will never leave you, not for anyone or anything. The sun will rise in the west before I will ever think about leaving your side, you got that?" He leans nearer to her until their faces are nearly touching, his eyes searing hers with the force of how absolutely he serious he is.

Korra's shoulders fall helplessly at his passion-ridden words, and a couple of silent tears seep from under her eyelids. There were times such as this one when she felt that she didn't deserve to have anyone in her life, much less someone as fiercely loyal, passionate, brilliant, handsome, and loving as the man who was currently holding her face and looking at her so earnestly just so that she could see with her own eyes how much he loved her and how much he meant every word coming out of his mouth. But still the depression remained. The physical condition of her body was felt right to the pit of her soul, changing her perception of herself into someone she didn't even know. Someone so distinctly opposite of who she always has been.

And now Korra can feel it again. She senses the impending emptiness creeping up on her once more and herself slide into blank apathy. But before she can pull away from Tahno, his grip tightens and his lips land on hers as his thumbs wipe away the tears on her cheeks. The urgent tenderness of his actions somehow achieve what talking could not, and she decides to accept his affirmations by opening her heart to his love, even if it meant also opening up to the pain of her consciousness.

Then Tahno lifts her out of her wheelchair and brings her into the house to gently lay her down in the middle of the bed, ever so gently undressing her before kissing up her legs. The same legs that were once long, slender, and beautifully muscled, and skin that was one time flawless.

Korra forces herself to look down at her legs, now atrophied, mangled, and scarred almost beyond recognition, but Tahno worships them as if they are his most precious possessions. The action causes her eyes to mist in appreciation and disbelief at how beautiful he could make her feel even now. His mouth continues to pay homage to her body, along with his hands and the rest of his body. She feels loved and cherished and utterly staggered by gratefulness, because even when she felt horrible and at the lowest point of despair, he was always there to pick her up and bear her weight without complaint.

_Love... Believes All Things_

A few years earlier

Tahno receives the call at work, his heart plummeting to the basement as the State Trooper tells him the news. Korra had been in a car accident, a bad one, with a semi. Currently firefighters were using the Jaws of Life to get her out of the vehicle. It was still unclear if she was even alive. He gets informed that she is going to be care-flighted to the nearest hospital and that he could meet them there.

Tahno doesn't remember driving to the hospital or even hanging up the phone before fleeing the building. He does, however, remember pacing the ER, waiting to hear the sound of the helicopter, wondering if his Korra, his beloved wife, would be alright, wondering if she was even still alive. He doesn't think he's ever prayed so much before in his life. All he knows is that he has to believe, believe that Korra survived, believe that she will live and not leave him on this earth alone.

When two surgeons come to talk to him and tell him that Korra has sustained serious injuries, that she will never walk again, but that she's alive and was one hell of a fighter, he feels his prayers were answered. And when he's brought back to the ICU and sees Korra in the hospital bed, he doesn't even notice the bottom portion of her body. The only thing that matters is her strong heartbeat on the monitor beeping away like a finely tuned machine. He's never thought anything could be more precious or beautiful. And when she finally wakes up, he believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that it doesn't matter if she has to be in a wheelchair or not. He believes that she will be able to do whatever she wants, whatever she puts her mind to, and that he will always believe in her.

_Love... Hopes All Things_

"But it's been _months,_ Tahno, and I still can't feel anything!" Korra yells in frustrated exasperation.

"Korra, these things take time, and you're not all powerful. You can't heal from something like this overnight," Tahno tries to reason with her as he kneels down in front of her. "You're still making progress, right?" he reminds her as he reaches out and gently takes hold of her chin, bringing her face up to look at him.

He wipes away a stray tear that spills out of her eyes while he fights back the stress induced moisture in his own. "We can't give up hope, okay? We can't give up hope," he repeats like a mantra.

A few days later Korra curses like a sailor as she wheels herself around the house and hits her foot into a door jamb before realizing the significance of being able to feel the pain. But then as she leans down to rub at the soreness in her toes, the shock and awareness slams into her like lightning, and the irritation brought on by the sharp ache transforms into sheer giddiness in her brain. Sensation was finally returning to the lower half of her body.

"Korra! Are you alright?" Tahno calls out as he runs upstairs after hearing the loud thud and her stream of swears.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she responds, unable to keep the breathless excitement from her voice.

"Where are you?"

"Our bathroom," she says as he makes his way through the bedroom and opens the door to find her sitting in her wheelchair and smiling for the first time since before the accident several months ago.

"What happened?" he inquires with a startled frown.

"Nothing, I just jammed my toe. Hurts like hell," she explains, still grinning like she had won the lottery.

Tahno raises an eyebrow as he stares at her, still confused for a few seconds until the meaning of her words dawns on him. "You felt it?" he gasps in wonder, dropping down to the floor in front of her and reaching out to touch her knee.

Korra nods and even lets out a laugh as he emits a breath of amazement. Then he lowers his gaze and slowly begins trailing his hand down the length of her leg, peering up at her again to gauge her reaction. "Do you feel that too?"

She nods slightly. "It tingles."

Then, not removing his eyes from hers, Tahno draws himself up closer and starts rubbing his hands gently up and down the outer sides of both her legs, and he observes her closely as her breathing quickens. The intensity of sensation wavers and fades in and out as his hands move to different spots on her legs, but still it's there, and the exultation builds up within her until she can't take it anymore.

Korra leans forward, grabbing for him, and he seems to read her mind, knowing exactly what she wants. As Tahno raises up to meet her, she plants both hands on either side of his face and kisses him with more passion than she's felt in she doesn't know how long. He cradles the back of her head and kisses back just as ardently, sharing in the joy that what they had been wishing and hoping for had finally happened.

Not long after, he picks her up and carries her to their bed, where they spend the rest of the day touching and experimenting and hardly believing the miracle that had occurred. After a while of the continued thrill of exploring Korra's reviving sensations, Tahno's traveling fingers begin moving upward, but he looks at her face hesitatingly before letting them reach their destination.

Not being able to feel anything below the waist had also meant no sexual intimacy for the past few months, but now the climbing sensations and the exhilaration they produced was seeing her arousal making a rebound as well.

Korra smirks as she murmurs, "Go for it."

Later that night as they both begin to drift off into contented slumber, a thought keeps resonating in Korra's head until she knows she has to voice it to Tahno. "Do you think that maybe this means I might be able to walk again too?" she mutters quietly into the still darkness of the room.

"I don't know," Tahno replies after thinking about it for a moment.

"Or maybe hoping that would just be pushing our luck too far," she adds sedately. "They said I _probably_ wouldn't be able to feel again, but that I _definitely_ won't walk again."

Tahno rolls over to face her, and she can make out the shadowy lines of his features. "I think you're capable of anything, Korra. But even if you don't walk again, that doesn't mean you can't accomplish anything else you want to."

She smiles lovingly at the confidence in his voice. "Well, maybe it doesn't hurt to hope," she mumbles as a yawn overtakes her.

"Maybe not," he agrees before pulling her against his chest and they both slip into peaceful sleep.

_Love... Endures All Things_

Many years later

Tahno stands by the casket and watches with continuous blurry vision as his wife is laid to rest. He holds onto his only daughter Kari's hand for support, but otherwise is caught somewhere between grief and numbness. How was he going to live on now? Korra had been his everything, the reason he got up in the morning. Most of the time it had felt like his heart beat only for her and to see her smile just one more time.

After the funeral service he went home. Kari cooks dinner for him as he sits in the living room, looking at nothing as ghosts of memories run past him. He remembers fondly how they would chase each other around the house in nothing more than their underwear when they were newly married, how they would lay on each other on the couch and have food fights with popcorn, how they would laugh about nothing until neither of them could breathe.

"Dad? Are you alright?" Kari asks as she leans against the door frame, looking so much like her mother that he nearly mistakes the two.

"I'm fine. Is dinner ready?" Tahno asks, his voice shaky as he tries to shake the images out of his head.

"Yeah, almost," she answers before coming forward to sit next to him on the couch.

"Dad, it's okay. I know her loss was sudden, but at least we had an idea it was coming, right? Mom died happy and at peace, and if you think about it, just because she isn't physically here, it doesn't mean she's really gone. She still lives on through you and me and everyone else who loved her. We just have to endure it until we are all reunited again," Kari tries to comfort her father as she embraces him.

Her own tears stream down her face as she struggled with knowing that she too was going to have to endure the loss of the most important woman in her life.

Tahno feels the guilt of not being strong enough for his daughter on top of everything else, but he doesn't know what he can do about it. Korra had always been the strong one. There had been a few times when he had had to carry her emotionally, but most of the time it had been her supporting him. But Kari was right, Korra wasn't entirely gone. She was in every pained breath he took. She was in their child. And she was also in what strength he had left to endure her loss.

_Love Never Fails_

Tahno walks the familiar route to Korra's grave as he glances down at the letters and flowers in his hand. He had brought her red tulips and hibiscus, along with some white jasmine this time. He smiles softly yet sadly as the flowers' meanings pass through his mind. He had chosen the red tulips because they meant undying love, and the hibiscus because they represented rare and delicate beauty, which was exactly what Korra was. Well, that was a half-truth. She could be tough as nails, but there were also times when she would show how vulnerable she could be and he loved her for it. He loved her for everything she showed him, for everything she was, and for being the best companion any man could ask for. And lastly, there was the jasmine, which meant unconditional and eternal love, something that he knew he would always feel for her, whether she was living or not.

He comes up to the engraved headstone and looks it over carefully before taking a deep breath. This was always going to be hard, but it was giving him more closure every time he came to see her.

"Hello, beautiful," Tahno greets, his throat tight and constricted, but he pushes past the pain. "I got you some more flowers," he tells her as he delicately places them on the ground.

"We got another letter today. Someone named Michelle Collins got one of your kidneys," he said as he unfolded the letter and read it out loud. "Thank you so much for another chance at life. I pray for your family and hope that they will be able to cope with loosing such a wonderful person..." Tahno stops reading as his throat spasms. His tears are already running steadily down his face, but he had ceased giving a damn if anyone saw them a long time ago.

After a moment he continues reading, "I cannot begin to tell you how grateful I am to have a new lease on life. Thank you so much. Sincerely, Michelle Collins," Tahno finishes and smiles despite his heartache. "I thought you should know how much you've helped other people. That always made you happier than anything else."

He sighs heavily as he folds up the letter and puts it back in his pocket. "I also wanted to let you know that Kari started dating a new guy. His name is Milton, but for some reason everyone calls him Doug. Apparently he's really smart or something, but I'm still reserving judgment. He treats Kari well though, so I guess we shouldn't complain too much. Kari is doing great in college, by the way. Straight A's, and all of her professors rave about how talented she is," Tahno informs Korra as he wipes the tears from his eyes and his voice starts to even out again.

"So since your death, I've been running a program in your honor that helps kids in wheelchairs get service dogs and medical treatment and other therapy that they need. So far we've helped twenty-six kids. Isn't that great?" Tahno says with a hopeful smile that quickly fades.

His head drops forwards and his eyes screw shut as he holds onto to everything he has in order to not break down. It happened like this sometimes. Suddenly he would just become overwhelmed by her absence and his shattering grief. "Korra," he sobbed bitterly, not doing a good job at keeping the anguish at bay. "I'm completely lost without you. I feel like I'm failing you. I'm trying to do what you would want me to do, what you always did, and that's to help people, but... it's just not the same. I wish I could have you back. I would give anything to have you back. I miss you so much it feels like my heart has been ripped into a million pieces and it will never be put back together."

He breathed raggedly for a few minutes before speaking again, "I don't know if I can do this for much longer. There are times my mind plays tricks on me and I wake up in bed with you in my arms like I always used to, or I walk by the balcony to see you sitting there looking out over the ocean. Sometimes I look at Kari and swear I'm seeing you. Sometimes I hear you laugh or see your face in a crowd. I swear I'm going crazy, Korra."

He finally gives in and sinks to his knees, feeling as though someone were literally stabbing his heart with a knife, through his chest, through his back, and all around. "I love you, Korra. That's one thing I'll never fail at," he whispers with a shuddering breath, tracing the carved letters of her name in the gravestone over and over.

The light begins to fade and he knows it's time to go, but he can't yet. '_Just a little longer_,' he reasons. He sits with his back against the stone, closing his eyes and bringing up her face in his mind as he mentally kisses and caresses her. Wishing with every ounce of his being that they could have just grown old together.

At least they had been together, even if it hadn't been nearly long enough. They had a love to last a lifetime, maybe several lifetimes. And it would never fail.

* * *

Author's Notes- Greatest thanks to Alaburn for betaing. My recipiant asked for angsty romance, they got really heavy angsty romance. But I just couldn't help myself, this is what poured out of me when the assignment came. Also their daughter was probably in college at the time of her mother's death to give you a point of refference.

Thank you so much for reading. :)


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